Regensburg with the Rybergs

August 11th, 2009

Since the kids are out of Kindergarten for a few weeks we are always trying to find different things to occupy them. Today Deanna and I drove all 4 kids to Regensburg where we ate out at a beergarden by the river, walked to a nice park (Sara loved the big lizard) and then visited the Dom.

Day at the Park with Mom

August 6th, 2009
Just a pretty day out so I took the girls to the Park here in Weiden and we played, had a picnic, saw the birds and the fountain.

The Horse Stables with Shelby and Zibby

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

On Rebecca's last day of German Kindergarten our 15 yr old neighbor, Shelby, came by with Zibby. Zibby is one of the little girls that was in Becca's Kindergarten class and she is moving to K-town and won't be coming back. Shelby volunteers at the horse stables by our home and came by with Shelby to take the girls to visit all the horses. They really loved it. Here are a few photos.

Back to the Zoo

July 26th, 2009
It's been just beautiful here in Germany lately. Finally summer arrives and it seems so short before fall comes. It was a perfect 71 and sunny out so we drove to Nuernburg and went to the Zoo. This time Sara was walking and got to enjoy a lot more. She went into the petting Zoo this time with the goats but was still a little leary and wouldn't feed them but Rebecca did. They really liked the Polar Bear and the Dolphins playing with their ball.

Last week of our vacation in the states

Monday, July 6th - Thursday, 9th 2009
The last week seemed like a blur. There was still so much we wanted to do and so many people to visit. Aunt Dottie came over for dinner one evening and Nate came by to have a beer. The girls and I got to see my good friend Dana. She flew in with her two boys from Portland and stayed with her brother (about 10 min from my parents house). The girls loved playing out at their house with the swing, trampoline, small "farm car" and all the kids. Dana and I got to go out "ohne kinder" that evening. It was GREAT. We took some silly pic's that probably won't get posted. Ha. Our last night there Scott and I left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa and went out to Anthony's for Italian food then to the Phoenix for live Jazz. It was SO Beautiful out though that we decided to head up the street to John's Big Deck. We sat outside about 4 stories up and listened to a couple of guys playing 90's songs. Scott made a few requests. We stayed out til 1am which was so fun but....upon arriving home saw that Sara was up reading books with Grandma having a good 'ole time. Ha. Smart little one. I got her to sleep and then we headed off to bed. The day of our trip home to Germany Great Aunt Barbara came over to visit! The girls loved talking to her and playing. And...of course we took photos.
Our flight back was very long. The girls did well considering but each only slept 2 hrs and at different times. The most difficult part of the whole trip was the drive from Munich airport back to Weiden (about 2 hrs) as Scott and I were SO TIRED and it took everything we had to stay awake for the drive....at this point the girls slept.

Nebraska - 2nd week in the states

Monday, June 29th - Monday, July 6th
After lunch on Monday we all jumped in the large SUV we rented (only in America can you drive such a car) and headed to Plymouth, NE to see Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt. After such a long trip overseas this drive was a piece of cake! The first couple of days there Scott helped his dad combine wheat and the girls and I went over to Aunt Heidi's house where Grandma Schmidt takes care of Sienna during the day. The girls LOVED their new baby cousin Sienna. She is such a doll and very big. Full of giggles and smiles and very interested in all the children that were there to visit her. Grandma Schmidt was taking care of Jonas as well until he went back home on Tuesday afternoon. It was nice that all the cousins got to play together for awhile. It was very hot the first few days and the girls played outside in the sprinkler and ran around the farm.
While in KC Scott bought enough fireworks to light up a small town. Impressive! He said that they do not sell such large fireworks in NE so he had to bring them from MO. We celebrated the 4th of July on Thursday evening as we were busy with Scott's 20 yr HS reunion the rest of the weekend. Sara dislikes fireworks very much. ;) After she went to sleep for the evening we all set up our lawnchairs in the back yard and Scott lined up the show. It was really great! Only one small fire (had to happen) but they got it out quickly. Rebecca loved the show but about 1/2 way though was so tired that she asked to go to bed. All week long her and daddy had been playing with sparklers and the papers that snap when you through them on the ground. She loved all of it. Sienna, Aunt Heidi and Uncle Robert were also over to enjoy the show.

1st week back

Monday, June 22nd - 29th
Our first trip back to the states since moving to Germany. It was weird that I looked around before we left Weiden and thought that I'd miss our day to day life here. I've really grown accustomed to it. It was 49 degrees out when we arrived at the Munich airport on Monday and after a long flight to Washington, D.C. (neither child slept) and a shorter flight from there to Kansas City we ended up with 96 and very humid. What a change! Both kids and Scott got colds (I have no idea how I avoided this). My dad picked us all up and luckly it was just a short 15 min drive to their house. Yea!! So good to be "home". The first night the girls got up at 2am thinking it was Play Time. I made them stay in their room til 4am but that was all I could do. It took about 3 nights for them to get reasonably back on track. Not bad. We didn't plan too much the first week there as I knew the kids would have to have a couple of relaxing days (me too) after such a long trip. My sister, Stacey, and bro-in-law, Scott arrived on Wednesday morning and stayed 2 nights. It was great to see them. We left the kids with my parents one afternoon and explored the new Power and Light district with them. We had planned on going out each night they were there but never got around to it as we were all just so tired.
Friday afternoon Rebecca, Sara and I went to Blue Springs, MO (where Becca was born) to visit our old neighbors and friends the Maschlers. We went out to lunch, played at the park and then back at the house in the water for awhile before having to head home. It was very very hot that day. It was so nice to catch up with Cathy and see all the kids. We took lots of pic's.
Saturday we took the kids and went to visit an old HS friend of Scott's, Tim Milius, and his family out in Olathe. They had a toy heaven in their basement and the kids all played well together so we could catch up. Later that evening we all went to an early 4th of July party at my friend Tamara's house out in the country in Liberty. I was surprised to she they have a cow now and a few other animals. The place looked great and I wish we could've stayed longer but the kids were tired and so we went home. It was so nice to see Tamara and Steve and little (big) Joey. All her kids were so grown up. Especially Gab and Cam. I hardly recognized them. Steve as always cooked enough food to feed the entire town of Liberty I think. ;)
Sunday was more relaxing. I took the girls over to see some HS friends of mine, Amy R., Amy F., Steph, and Christy (who had flown in from Colorado). Christy brought her new baby boy, Ethan, and the girls and Ethan played with all the toys at Amy's house. We snacked and exchanged gifts and got to catch up a bit. It was great to see everyone again.
Monday we took the kids to the subdivision pool in the morning (as we had been all week) and after lunch we drove to Plymouth, NE to see Mom and Dad Schmidt. After the long plane ride this 4 hr drive was a piece of cake :)
Continued on next entry......